When I started fishing last summer the tippet I got was the generic, non flouro (I don't know what the material is) SW brand tippet. I am looking for something to spend a gift card on and am wondering if upgrading to flouro is worth it. Any brands better than others? Is the SW brand flouro tippet any good?

Unless they changed the formula I'd say it isnt worth it. I tried it when it first came out and it broke easily and did not keep up very well. I'd like to go back to it, but with the unsatisfactory original line I had keeps me from it. The idea is great, just gun shy on it.

Dorian,
I believe it's a personal preference thing, some people swear by it and use it a lot.
Myself, I don't use fluoro as I havn't noticed any real advantage with it for the fishing I do.

To me it does seem a bit more brittle, and will friction burn easily if you don't lube your knot really well before tightening, causing a weaker connection.
The cost is another big factor, I prefer to spend the extra $$ on good quality regular tippet material in the bigger spools to last all season.

As far as brands, I've used Umpqua for years and really like it, although this past season I started to use RIO's "power flex" tippet material and may go with that for the upcoming year, it seemed silky smooth and soft.
In the past I have also used Orvis and had no issues with it, really liked it for smaller dries.
Frog hair is another one I will try sometime, I just don't know when. lol

Another thought on "Fluoro" it seems like I read something a few years ago that said it does not break down as quickly as regular mono, so therefor will stay in the water system longer. I dunno?

I use it for some of my saltwater leaders since it doesnt have as much memory and eliminates the need for stretching as much as the mono leaders so they lay out straight (shock tippets on tarpon leaders)

I use it quite a bit when fishing streamers and nymphing because it is tougher and sinks faster than mono. I generally have a spool of 4x or 5x mono and one of 3x fluoro with me when fishing. Mono for dries and fluoro for streamers and some nymphs. I like mono much better for dries because it floats better and is more limp, improving the quality of the drift.

I use Flouro for nymphing but since you don't really have to worry about turnover I buy the 100 yd spools for spinning reels. I short line nymph most of the time & I believe them when they say it is almost invisable under water. I'm always careful with my knots ( lessons learned)so no real problem there. They advertise that it is more abrasion resistant than mono. Fishing line left in a stream is a real problem but I don't know if Flouro lasts longer than Mono left to the elements. The important info to get out is not to leave old tippits & leaders in the stream or on the banks. It seems the spin fisherman do enough of that.

The question is one that is debated alot and my opinion on it is that it had better perform two or three times better than Mono because that is what the price justifies. Personally I have used many brands of it and I haven't seen any marked improvement on my fishing.

I would caution you though about mixing and matching it with regular mono. Mono is typically softer and trying to marry the harder flouro to each other will weaken your knots and make the product less effective. I would suggest choosing to either use mono or use flouro and stick with one or the other.

You do have to be more careful with your knots in Fluor. Connecting the tippet with a loop to loop connection solves the problem of fastening them together with knots. You can also use a Uni to Uni knot connection.

Here is a quote from Lefty Kreh about using Fluor. He was answering a question on a forum.

"I don't think there is ever a need to use an entire fluorocarbon leader at anytime. I have tried many fluorcarbons since they first came on th market--I am not convinced they make a difference. If you are going to use it--perhaps the only place would be in the tippet. Hard Mason Mono is the wrong way to go on butt sections of leaders. Your line UNROLLS to the target===so must your leader. Stiff, hard Mason mono dosen't want to unroll easily. I would suggest for tarpon that you tie a butt section of 60 pound test mono that IS HALF AS LONG AS THE ENTIRE LEADER. Then drop down in size to 50--40--30--etc. The 60 pound butt has enough FEXIBLE ENERGY to cause the leader to continue unrolling. Most any preminum SPINNING LINE is okay--indendent lab test have shown one of the best spining lines (knot strength--of comparable diameter--was well as abrasion resitance) is SUFIX TITANIUM---I think Bass Pro and Cabelas sell it and it is what I use for my leaders--but not just SUFIX--but SUFIUX TITANIUM.

There is some good information in this quote. This is about salt water fishing but probably applies to fresh water also. You people who tie your own salt water leaders may want to try SUFIX TRITANIUM. Lefty seems to think it is good stuff.